1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus and an image reading and recording apparatus provided with the same, and particularly to a sheet feeding apparatus provided with first sheet stacking means and second sheet stacking means for stacking sheets thereon.
2. Related Background Art
There has heretofore been a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding a sheet provided with first stacking means and second stacking means for stacking sheets such as recording paper and originals thereon, and as such a sheet feeding apparatus, there is one provided, for example, in a printer enabling manual sheet feeding to be effected, and adapted to feed sheets stacked on the first stacking means and sheets manually stacked on the second stacking means to an image recording portion by an automatic sheet feeding mechanism and a manual sheet feeding mechanism, respectively.
Also, as another example, there is one provided in an image reading and recording apparatus integrally provided with an image reading portion for reading the image of an original and an image recording portion for recording (forming) an image on recording paper.
FIG. 19 of the accompanying drawings schematically shows the construction of a facsimile apparatus adapted to record an image on a sheet by an ink jet recording process, which is an example of an image reading and recording apparatus provided with such a conventional sheet feeding apparatus, and in this facsimile apparatus, when an image is to be recorded on recording paper 301 which is a sheet, sheets of recording paper 301 placed on a first recording paper holding member 303 which is first stacking means are first separated and fed out one by one by a recording paper feeding roller 304 which is first sheet feeding means connected to a recording paper transporting motor (not shown) and a separating mechanism (not shown), thereafter the recording paper 301 is transported to an image recording portion 306 by feeding rollers 305.
Next, in this image recording portion 306, ink is discharged while an ink cartridge which is image recording means, not shown, is moved in a scanning direction, whereby an image is recorded on the recording paper. After the image has been thus recorded, the recording paper 301 is delivered out of the apparatus by delivery rollers 307 as indicated by the arrow B0.
On the other hand, when the image of a document 302 is to be read, documents 302 are first set a document holding member 308 which is second stacking means in a form rammed in a wedge shape formed by a document separating roller 309 and a separating piece 313 driven by a document separating and transporting motor (not shown), next, in this state, among the documents 302 stopped by the wedge shape, only the document which is in contact with the document separating roller 309 is separated and transported by friction from the original separating roller 309 which is second sheet feeding means rotated on the basis of an image reading command.
Next, the thus separated and transported document 302 is passed above a contact image sensor 311 which is reading means provided in an image reading portion while being nipped between document feeding rollers 310 and between a delivery roller 312 and a runner 312a opposed thereto, whereby image information is read. After the image information has been thus read by the contact image sensor 311, the document 302 is delivered out of the apparatus as indicated by the arrow A0.
In the facsimile apparatus of such a construction, in order to realize the downsizing and lower cost of the apparatus, a transport path for use in common as an original transporting path and a recording paper transporting path is shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-183990.
However, in the conventional sheet feeding apparatus and a facsimile apparatus (image reading and recording apparatus) provided with the same, when design is made such that document transport and recording paper transport are effected by one and the same drive source, if there is a difference between torque necessary to effect the document transport and torque necessary to effect the recording paper transport, there arises the problem that the noise and step-out by overtorque occur.